Supreme Court denies California church’s challenge to state restrictions | TheHill
The Supreme Court issued a rare late-night ruling on Friday against a California church challenging the state’s stay-at-home order.In a 5-4 vote, Chief Justice John Roberts broke from other conservative justices to rule in favor of the state. The case was brought by the South Bay United Pentecostal Church in Chula Vista, Calif., which said Gov. Gavin Newsom’s (D) stay-at-home order ignored religious freedoms.Roberts noted in an opinion concurring in the unsigned ruling that the restrictions in place apply to nonreligious gatherings and therefore don’t pose a threat to religious liberties.
“Although California’s guidelines place restrictions on places of worship, those restrictions appear consistent with the free exercise clause of the First Amendment,” Roberts wrote.“Similar or more severe restrictions apply to comparable secular gatherings, including lectures, concerts, movie showings, spectator sports, and theatrical performances, where large groups of people gather in close proximity for extended periods of time,” he wrote. The court’s remaining conservative justices — Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh — filed dissenting opinions.
Source: Supreme Court denies California church’s challenge to state restrictions | TheHill
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With the comment “The court’s remaining conservative justices…”, the writer assumes that Chief Justice Roberts is a conservative. I’d argue that he’s neither a conservative or a liberal. He’s a undependable fence straddler who seems to test the political winds to see which way popular opinion is blowing before he gives his opinion, but more often than not gives the government what they want.